What's New: The last two-seat roadster Jaguar produced was a little car called the E-Type. Perhaps you've heard of it. That hunk of metal is widely regarded as the most beautiful automobile ever made. Fifty years later, Jaguar introduces its successor with the F-Type.

Modern car design restrictions such as fuel-efficiency and crash standards make it an even taller order to follow a gem like the E-Type, but Jaguar's low-slung new roadster is stylish in its own right, with a strong character line that begins in the front fascia and runs back through the car's muscular haunches. To improve aerodynamics, recessed door handles deploy when a sensor is touched and the key fob is nearby. There's also a spoiler hidden in the trunk that rises when the car hits 60 mph. The F-Type catches eyes when stationary, but on the road, shooting through turns, the car turns heads.

First teased as the C-X16 concept at the 2011 Frankfurt Motor Show, the F-Type's foundations lie in the XK's platform. But compared with the bigger Jag 2-door, the F-Type rides on a 5.1-inch-shorter wheelbase and is 12.7 inches shorter in overall length. The F-Type's all-aluminum chassis is roughly 50 percent recycled material, which reflects Jaguar/Land Rover's recent corporate commitment to reducing waste.

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The car comes in three trims, each with a separate engine tune, all of which have a start-stop function. Both V-6 engines are supercharged, with 340 hp in the base version and 380 hp in the S. The V8 S model uses, you guessed it, a supercharged V-8 that makes a bonkers 495 hp. In ascending order of horsepower, the engines catapult the F-Type to 60 mph in 5.1 seconds, 4.8 seconds, and 4.2 seconds. All engines come paired to a ZF 8-speed automatic transmission—the same one found in the Ram 1500 and a host of other vehicles—that can be manually controlled via paddle shifters or the center shift lever.

Both S trims come equipped with an Adaptive Dynamics suspension system that gathers information from 13 inputs at up to 100 times per second and makes instantaneous adjustments to the dampers. All three models feature Dynamic Mode, which holds gears to redline in manual-shift mode, raises the stability control intervention threshold, and adjusts the steering and engine settings. Dynamic Mode also stiffens up the suspension in the S models. For increased traction coming out of corners, the V-6 S features a mechanical limited-slip differential, while the more powerful V8 S has a predictive electronic limited-slip differential.

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The F-Type's interior is luxurious but not over the top. As opposed to the flagship XJ's ostentatious cabin, the F-Type's leather-bound surfaces and silver trimmings balance plushness and sportiness—with the scale tipping toward the sporty side. Occupants sit low, with a driver-oriented cockpit defined by a buttress on the right edge of the center console that doubles as a passenger grab-handle. The center stack has a large touchscreen, and just below that are three glass-fronted knobs that make HVAC simple. The instrument cluster consists of two traditional gauges sandwiching a digital information screen. The F-Type's fanciest parlor trick is its retractable air vents placed in the dash above the instrument panel. Intended to improve the cabin's cleanliness, the vents rise only when sensors throughout the car decide the extra airflow is necessary. Excessive? Maybe. Cool? Definitely.

Tech Tidbit: To increase chassis stiffness, engineers typically add a brace that spans the front shock towers. But to do that on the F-Type would interfere with the low profile designers wanted for the nose. So from the very beginning the team designed an integrated structure into the frame that connects the two sides and increases structural integrity by 30 percent. The smart engineering paid off. Whether driving hot laps in the 380-hp V6 S around Spain's Circuito de Navarra or pushing the 495-hp V8 S on twisty mountain roads in the Spanish Pyrenees, our F-Type remained well behaved with minimal cowl shake.

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Driving Character: After winding our way through an endless string of roundabouts outside of Pamplona, Spain, we hit the open country roads in the base V-6. Speeding through sweeping curves and along scenic straightaways, it was easy to find a comfortable driving rhythm thanks to the responsive steering (the variable-ratio rack is Jaguar's quickest) and the balanced chassis. Despite the occasional pause, the 8-speed automatic impressed us with its prompt shifts as we climbed from lush valley floors to the arid mountain elevations. Before long we found ourselves shifting exclusively with the steering wheel paddles for greater control and, most important, to coax the engine into emitting its gloriously distinctive exhaust note as often as possible.

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At Spain's three-year-old Circuito de Navarra racetrack, we unleashed the F-Type V6 S at full throttle. Here the car's dynamics were on full display, with a flat attitude through each curve and the utmost poise to increase driver confidence. We also found that shifts were noticeably sharper in Dynamic Mode as opposed to manual sport mode. If we had one issue on the track, it was with the brakes. The V6 S comes with 15-inch vented discs in front, up from the 13.9-inch pies in the base F-Type; both have 12.8-inch vented discs in the rear, while the V8 S takes a step further with 14.8-inch rear vented discs. Heading into turns at full speed in the V6 S, we found ourselves wishing the brakes had more initial bite and a slightly firmer pedal. Our concerns were reaffirmed later that day on slick mountain roads, where our confidence in the brakes left us approaching hairpins with caution.

Finally, it was time to drive the V-8 S. After just a few seconds behind the wheel it was clear why Jaguar saved this version for last: its extra 115 horses make the V-6 models feel positively lethargic. A little raw, a whole lot more powerful, and absolutely thrilling to drive, the instant torque and power of the F-Type V8 S provides a glee from dipping into the gas pedal that's impossible to resist. Had we never driven the V-8 we would have found both V-6 versions to be more than adequate, but 495 hp has a way of recalibrating one's impression of power.

Favorite Detail: Ask anyone who's driven the F-Type for thoughts on the car, and within the first few sentences the exhaust note will be mentioned. The gurgly, sputtering blips during downshifts and upshifts are intoxicating, urging you to play with the paddle shifters like a kid with a new toy on Christmas morning. Each audible flutter of the exhaust curls the corners of your lips upward, and at full throttle, it's impossible not to let out a laugh. Although the V-8's slightly more muted, base-heavy tone doesn't seep through the soft top's three layers of insulation as loudly as the V-6's higher-pitch note, both engines make the F-Type an audibly wonderful place to be on a sunny day with the top down.

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Driver's Grievance: Although we found the driving dynamics of the F-Type to be excellent overall, the steering feedback and transmission occasionally left us wanting. Sometimes the transmission seemed indecisive when asked to quickly shift several gears in automatic mode, and the steering, while good, could have been chattier on rougher roads.

Bottom Line: It's tricky to make direct comparisons between the F-Type and other cars because of the broad span of its engines and price. Jaguar pegs it as a Porsche 911 fighter, but that role is already filled by the XK (which barely overlaps the F-Type's price). A more appropriate direct comparison is to the Boxster, but the Jaguar makes a solid case as a slightly different type of sports car, with its front engine and distinctly Jaguar combination of luxury and style.

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Jaguar says that pre-orders for the F-Type show about a 50 percent mix of the V8 S in the States, which is the car's biggest market. At more than $92,000, the V8 S is priced out of 99 percent of the population's reach, but it's also the model we would buy if coin weren't a concern. For those rich enough to buy a $70,000 convertible, the base F-Type or V6 S will make you a very happy owner, as long as you don't test-drive the V-8.

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